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Post by BCHISTORIAN on Jul 26, 2005 9:35:22 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2005/07/26/celtics_greene_close_to_finalizing_contract/The Celtics plan to finalize a deal with second-round draft pick Orien Greene today, according to his agent Jason Levien. Greene, a 6-foot-4-inch point guard from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, joins a young roster that should offer plenty of opportunity to earn playing time. The multiyear deal should include a substantial guarantee and could be worth as much as $1.8 million.
Boston brought Greene, the 53d pick, to town for a predraft workout in May and liked the 23-year-old, though team officials suggested he work on his shot and explosiveness. Greene went back to Florida and did just that under the guidance of David Thorpe at the 5 Star Pro Training Center in Clearwater. When Greene returned for a second predraft workout in June, team officials were as impressed with his talent as with the improvement he made. When he reports for training camp, Greene hopes to make equally quick progress and contribute to the team this season.
''I'm just excited about it," said Greene. ''I'm ready to get back on the court and get started. Being a young team, we should jell well and I see a tremendous opportunity to get significant minutes."
To that end, Greene has chosen to spend the remainder of his summer in Boston working out and rehabilitating from recent surgery on his right foot for a fractured fifth metatarsal. The Celtics needed to convince Greene to skip summer league and have the operation so he could be ready for the start of training camp. Greene played with the fracture since last August.
Greene has been at the Celtics' training facility in Waltham on crutches with a boot protecting his foot. But he can still do upper-body weight work and get to know his new teammates.
The Celtics are expected to soon sign fellow second-rounder Ryan Gomes, the 50th pick, to a multiyear deal likely similar to the one they offered Greene
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 26, 2005 10:25:42 GMT -5
This is terrific news. It really shows how much interest Ainge has in him, to not only push him to have the surgery, but to give him a contract even though he didn't play in the summer league, and even before preseason starts. At the very least, he sounds like a very coachable player who learns things quickly. Nothing shabby about these types of players.
Awesome that we're locking up Gomes too. I don't want to lose this guy.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 26, 2005 10:57:08 GMT -5
Just read that Orien Greene's foot had been in the fractured state since last August. That explains why he dropped so far in the draft, relative to his skill level and physical attributes. After Ainge's request in the individual team workouts prior to the draft, he asked Greene to work on getting more explosion and tighten up his jump shot. Amazing that he increased his explosiveness, despite playing on a fractured foot.
Now that he's repaired that foot, once he rehabs and gets it into top shape, he can probably become even more explosive! Probably not Banks' speed, but a 6'5" PG who can motor pretty well is going to be a big advantage.
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Post by esco33 on Jul 26, 2005 12:53:45 GMT -5
I don't know much about this guy, but one thing that I heard about him that I did like was him being described as a 6'5" pure point guard. There are a lot of combo guards that are in the league at that height, that are not considered pure point guards. If he is in fact, a true point guard, that would create some major mismatches for the other team on both offense and defense due to his height. We will have to wait and see.
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Post by celtics4ever on Jul 26, 2005 15:51:28 GMT -5
What a tough kid to play hurt like that. I hope he did not hurt his wheels doing that. But lordly what a tough hard nosed kid. That is exactly what we need a tough guy! He was a major prospect at one time. Here is some more info on Orien: "Orien Greene, from Gainesville and Bonell Colas, from Miami make up Donovan's fifth recruiting class in Gatorland. Greene, a 6-4, 186-pound combo guard, was selected Florida's Mr. Basketball after leading Gainesville High School to a second consecutive 5A state title. Greene averaged 15.8 points per game and 7.8 assists per game, but played within a true team concept. " www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/history.php?his=2000/preview2000.html"Orien is an extremely unselfish and gifted player who could have put up a lot more numbers scoring in high school if he played on a less talented team. But Orien was a guy in high school who was more concerned with winning than scoring points - that attitude allowed us to be successful last year. " www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/history.php?his=2000/preview2000.html"Super quick guard with great size in the backcourt ... Terrific interior scorer and rebounder ... Extremely aggressive going to the basket ... Rides his man into the lane, creating space off his shoulder for his release off the dribble ... Needs to better hone his perimeter skills, he is mediocre from long range and struggles off the dribble from 15-18 ... Good distributor because he can draw the defense on penetrations, but needs to cut down on turnovers ... Tremendous ball-thief, one of the top in the nation ... Sat out the 2002-03 campaign as a transfer from University of Florida ... Averaged 5.4 points, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game as a sophomore ... Set career-highs with 14 points and 11 assists against LSU ... Tallied 3.4 points per game as a freshman ... Began playing organized basketball at just eight-years old ... A 2000 graduate of Gainesville High School ... Led his team to back-to-back state titles and earned Florida's Mr. Basketball as a senior, averaging 15.8 points per game, 7.6 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.5 rebounds ... Named Third-Team Parade All-American ... A four-year starter whose teams went 108-21 during his career" sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=2842All I can say is he sounds like a gamer! |
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 27, 2005 4:32:03 GMT -5
Indeed, he sounds like a gamer. DraftExpress constantly said that he's a pass first PG. I can't really say for certain that he is one, but many sources (like the ones Celtics4ever linked for us) say the exact same thing, about how he's a team first player who wants to win more than gain individual glory.
Maybe we outta tone down our excitement for this kid (specifically speaking for myself) because he may not turn out to be as good as advertised. But if he is, Ainge will have found the 2 best gems of the draft by selecting Gomes and Greene with the 50th and 53rd picks. Truly incredible.
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Post by celtics4ever on Jul 27, 2005 6:20:02 GMT -5
I don't think he will be a savior. But hopefully some of that attitude will rub off. Looks like Ainge is trying to emulate the Patriots and get the guys with the right mindset.
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Post by Celtic17 on Jul 27, 2005 15:49:36 GMT -5
I've got the same feeling in my gut, about Orien, as I had about Justin last year.
Gamer indeed.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 27, 2005 21:51:00 GMT -5
You like to cheer for the underdog, C17. I do too. I'm going to be pulling for Orien Greene to show a lot of promise.
I was thinking about possible lineups in my head today, and a lineup of Greene, Allen, Green, Jefferson, and Perkins sounds pretty good. Especially with Delonte backing up the 1 spot, Ricky backing up the 2 spot, and Gomes and Reed taking up the 3 and 4 spot. That's a tall staring lineup with a lot of athleticism. All 5 players are long armed guys who can get a good amount of steals and be solid defenders.
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Post by Celtic17 on Jul 27, 2005 21:58:17 GMT -5
How about one of my dreams?
Greene
Green
Reed
Jefferson
Perkins
Davis, West, Gomes and another big...
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Post by BCHISTORIAN on Jul 28, 2005 1:07:27 GMT -5
where's allen c17?
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 28, 2005 2:05:16 GMT -5
Yeah, where's Tony Allen? I'm feeling pretty confident that he's going to be our starting SG when we start going places. This kid makes good things happen on the court.
PG- Greene (6'5", long wingspan, pass first mentality)
SG- Allen (6'4", super athletic, explosive, do-it-all player)
SF- Green (6'8", awesome athleticism, strong shooter, scorer)
PF- Jefferson (6'10", quick, nimble, natural scorer, instinctual rebounder/shot blocker)
C- Perkins (6'10", rugged body, long armed, defensive mentality, positional rebounder)
Bench:
Delonte (steady backup PG who can shoot)
Ricky (instant offense, energy off the bench)
Gomes (versatile offensive weapon off the bench, solid rebounder, hard worker)
Reed (defensive player, rugged banger, occassional offensive player)
Scalabrine (blue collar player, banger, garbage player)
Another good backup C/PF will be a solid piece to the puzzle. A 3rd string PG who can be counted on for about 5 minutes a game shouldn't be hard to find.
Can you tell that this is the slowest time of the year for basketball fans? ;D All we think about our the young guys and their potential. I guess its a heck of a lot better than talking about how this year, Tony Battie and Jr Bremer will be our surprise players.
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Post by Celtic17 on Jul 28, 2005 2:40:42 GMT -5
Allen was the guy I missed, He will be traded.  I guess... |
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Post by BCHISTORIAN on Jul 28, 2005 5:34:23 GMT -5
derren - sincethe team you put up here doesn't have pierce then we can expect something of a value back for him that would be on that roster, probably a c or a pg
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jul 28, 2005 16:46:14 GMT -5
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. With Orien in the lineup I listed in the previous post, it would mean that he beat out Delonte for the starting spot, meaning he could be good enough to be the PG on a contending team. So we wouldn't need another PG, unless we'd want a star PG.
Using Pierce to get ourselves a better Center than Perkins would be huge. That's who I'd use Pierce to get if I were to move him.
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I guess...